Web Help Desk 12.7.12 release notes
Release date: April 18, 2023
These release notes describe the new features, improvements, and fixed issues in Web Help Desk (WHD) 12.7.12. They also provide information about upgrades and describe workarounds for known issues.
Learn more
- To find answers to commonly asked questions, see Frequently Asked Questions.
- For information on the latest hotfixes, see WHD Hotfixes. This release contains all hotfixes from the previous release.
- For release notes for previous WHD versions, see Previous Version documentation.
- For information about requirements, see WHD system requirements.
- For information about working with WHD, see the WHD Administrator Guide.
New features and improvements
WHD 12.7.12 offers new features and improvements compared to previous releases of WHD.
Calendar integration with Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar
The Calendar tab in the WHD Web Console now displays the number of scheduled tickets and events due for the current day.
When a tech schedules a ticket in the WHD calendar, a calendar event is sent to the Microsoft Exchange or Google email address configured in their tech account. When a pending ticket is due, the tech receives a reminder from their Google or Outlook calendar.
This integration allows you to use your email and WHD calendar to review pending tickets, plan your weekly schedule, and ensure that all customer issues are resolved in a timely manner. Administrators can use the calendar to keep track of ticket resolutions and reassign a ticket when the assigned tech is unavailable.
The following configuration is required for calendar integration:
-
Outgoing mail configuration with Simple Authentication is mandatory to use this feature.
-
SMTP Authentication for the outgoing account is set to Simple with a corresponding username and password.
-
Valid WHD email address is required during the configuration procedure.
See Configure the business zones and calendar settings in the WHD Administrator Guide for more information.
Out of office configuration for vacationing techs to assign tickets to a backup tech
Techs can now configure an out of office date and time, as well as a backup tech in their tech account. This feature allows vacationing techs to address their incoming tickets while they are out of the office.
During the scheduled out of office period, the backup tech receives tickets that are assigned to the vacationing tech. All tickets remain assigned to the vacationing tech, but can be processed by the backup tech.
If a tech is out of the office due to an illness or an emergency, an administrator can configure the out of office time and date for a tech, as well as assign a backup tech.
Administrators can view the out of office history for any tech. A non-admin tech can only view their out of office history.
See Configure an out of office message for a tech in the WHD Getting Started Guide for more information.
Asset discovery support with the SolarWinds Platform
You can now create an asset discovery connection with the following applications:
- Lansweeper 10.x
- NCM 2020.4
- NPM 2021.2
- SAM 2020.4
Asset discovery allows you to import Microsoft Windows-based assets into the WHD database using the WMI discovery engine and a supported asset discovery tool, such as Lansweeper.
Improved collaboration between techs and admins
Techs and administrators can now collaborate with each other within a ticket using the new @ mention feature. This feature allows both support personnel to add notes within a ticket and tag (or mention) the collaborating administrator or tech regarding ticket resolution.
After the ticket note is saved, the corresponding team member receives an email that reiterates the ticket note. This process can help assist your team to resolve a ticket in a timely manner.
See Create tickets and Edit a ticket note in the WHD Getting Started Guide for more information.
Secure communications to an external PostgreSQL database
This release implements new cryptographic algorithms between WHD and an external PostgreSQL database. This feature further hardens the application to prevent unauthorized access to your PostgreSQL database.
When you upgrade your existing deployment to WHD 12.7.12, you are prompted to reselect your WHD database. This process enables the updated connection.
Updated Apache Tomcat
This release includes Apache Tomcat 9.0.69, which provides additional enhancements to further harden the application. This version replaces Tomcat 9.0.68, which is no longer supported.
Tomcat is an open source software product that creates both a web and application server for your enterprise.
Internal improvements
This release includes additional updates that improve the product stability and functionality.
Changes to the system requirements
This release adds support for the following:
-
macOS 11 (Big Sur)
-
macOS 12 (Monterey)
Fixed issues
WHD 12.7.12 fixes the following issues.
| Case number | Description |
|---|---|
|
N/A |
Links to YouTube videos in an FAQ now work properly. |
|
00420897 |
You can now use BBCode to add links to external websites in the ticket notes and the client interface. You can now link Vimeo videos in ticket notes. |
|
01183983 |
An error no longer displays when you use |
|
01271165, 01279411, |
Clients can now download attachments. |
|
01216639, 01216639, |
Adding a special character in a username now displays the name correctly without random characters. |
|
01207031 |
An error message no longer displays when you save a link to a YouTube video in the Request Detail field of a ticket. |
|
N/A |
You can now enter a link to a YouTube video in the following locations:
|
|
01208526 |
An error no longer displays when you reserve an asset. |
|
01224913 |
An attachment inline link now works properly. |
|
01203406 |
WHD now supports PostgreSQL 13.9. |
|
N/A |
Improved WMI utility for asset discovery and collection. |
|
01271901, 01281745, |
Techs can now view survey completion notification URLs. |
CVEs
SolarWinds would like to thank our Security Researchers below for reporting on the issue in a responsible manner and working with our security, product, and engineering teams to fix the vulnerability.
| CVE-ID | Vulnerability Tite | Description | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-45143 | Apache Tomcat JsonErrorReportValve Injection Vulnerability | The JsonErrorReportValve in Apache Tomcat 8.5.83, 9.0.40 to 9.0.68 and 10.1.0-M1 to 10.1.1 did not escape the type, message or description values. In some circumstances these are constructed from user provided data and it was therefore possible for users to supply values that invalidated or manipulated the JSON output. | High |
New customer installation
For information about installing WHD, see the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide.
WHD supports Windows Server 2019 and 2022 for production environments and Windows 11 for trial evaluations. These operating system require additional setup to install. See the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for instructions.
After you complete the installation, see the WHD Getting Started Guide. This guide picks up right after the installation process and walks you through the initial steps you need to take to start using the application.
WHD no longer includes the additional configuration files required to enable Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) mode in the application. To install WHD and enable FIPS, see Enable FIPS in a new deployment in the WHD Administrator Guide.
If you are installing WHD 12.7.12 with FIPS mode disabled, make sure version 12.7.9 is running on the host server before you install. When the installation is completed, enable FIPS mode.
SQL Server database collation requirements
If you plan to use a Microsoft SQL Server database for your deployment, verify that the server collation in your database is set to case insensitive before you run the installer. If it is set to case sensitive, create a new case insensitive database using SQL Server Management Studio.
See Prepare your WHD database in the WHD Administrator Guide for details.
Before you upgrade!
If you are upgrading from a previous version, be aware of the following considerations.
- Determine the upgrade path for your WHD deployment.
- If you are upgrading from version 12.7.6 or earlier, upgrade to version 12.7.7 first. This version contains significant updates required for later versions. After you complete the upgrade, then upgrade to version 12.7.12.
How to upgrade
If you are upgrading from a previous version, see the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide. This guide provides steps and procedures for installing and upgrading WHD in an evaluation, stand-alone, or integrated SolarWinds Platform deployment.
Upgrade your embedded PostgreSQL database
If you are running version 12.7.8 with the embedded PostgreSQL 13.3 database, follow the instructions in the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide to upgrade your deployment to version 12.7.12.
If you are running version 12.7.6 or earlier with the embedded PostgreSQL 9.x.x database, upgrade to 12.7.7 with PostgreSQL 13.9 first. See How to upgrade Web Help Desk to version 12.7.7 using PostgreSQL as the database for details. When you are finished, follow the instructions in the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide to upgrade your deployment to version 12.7.12.
Upgrade your FIPS deployment
If FIPS is enabled in your WHD 12.7.2 through 12.7.4 deployment, copy the following files to another location before you upgrade:
<WebHelpDesk>\bin\nss-x64<WebHelpDesk>\conf\additional\fips-140-2
After you copy the files, upgrade to 12.7.5. When you are finished, upgrade to 12.7.12. See the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for details.
Install the MySQL JDBC driver
Beginning with WHD 12.7.1, Oracle Java has been replaced with the OpenJDK. This update modifies the directory structure where the MySQL Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver is installed. To prevent errors after the upgrade, install the driver on your host server in the new location to prevent errors in the application after the upgrade.
See Install the MySQL JDBC Driver in the WHD Administrator Guide for installation instructions.
Upgrade Your Apache Tomcat software
The software installer includes Apache Tomcat 9.0.69, which provides enhanced security and is required for this release.
When you upgrade your WHD software, the upgrade procedure replaces the <WebHelpDesk>\conf\tomcat_web_template.xml file with an updated file including the Tomcat 9.0.69 settings.
Before you upgrade, back up your current tomcat_web_template.xml file to an external directory. When the upgrade is completed, add your personal settings to the updated file from your backup file.
Known issues
| Inaccurate asset report data (01169825) | |
|---|---|
| Issue | When you generate an asset report with the Table Data option set to Ticket Count, the generated report count does not include an accurate ticket count. |
| Workaround |
|
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